This invention relates to a method of reclaiming rubber from vehicle tires so that the rubber can be recycled in various forms and for many purposes.
The increasing vehicle population of the world presents an increasing enviromental problem in relation to the disposal of used vehicle tires. Currently there are large stockpiles of used tires throughout the world as there was not as yet been developed a method of disposal of the tires which is considered both environmentally acceptable and economic.
Burying of tires in landfill has been used as a method of disposal, however, in view of the size, construction and flexibility of tires, they result in initially forming cavities in the landfill and are difficult to effectively compact during the landfill operation. Further, it has been found that in these situations the soil tends to settle more than the tires and the latter may subsequently resurface. Further the practice of burning of tires as a fuel also presents a problem in the nature of the resulting products of combustion and the relatively low thermal output. Also there is the problem of tires incorporating non combustible components such as steel reinforcing wires or mesh which present difficulties in the operation of combustion equipment.
There have been a number of proposals for stripping the rubber material from the metal or fabric reinforcement, however, most prior proposals have not proven to be economically viable. In order to maximise the financial return from the reclaiming of materials from vehicle tires, it is desirable to be able to separate substantially all of the rubber content of the tires from the metal reinforcement therein, and to further separate the relatively high quality rubber in the tread portion of the tire from the lower quality rubber in the sidewalls, bead area of the tire.
Various processes and machinery for the reclaiming of rubber from tires have been disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.
4,113,18--SMITH PA1 4,216,916--TUPPER PA1 4,726,530--MILLER PA1 4,802,635--BARCLAY PA1 4,840,316--BARCLAY PA1 4,863,106--PERKEL: